Moving From South Dublin to North (Swords)

DarraghR

Hi everyone. I am close to buying my first home and have been looking in the Swords area. Can anyone give me some feedback if the area is dangerous or unsafe?

I was brought up in Marino but Swords would be an area I am unfamiliar with.

Swords is big, like any other area it has great parts and less-great parts. Usually there's a big clue in the price of the place you're looking at.

Proximity to the main street/pavillions would be a plus for me.

There are some parts where you basically have to own a car, so that's another variable to consider. Dublin bus and the Swords express are the two main providers so if you need to use them make sure you do your research. If you don't need public transport, maybe better to move away from transport routes a bit to get better value.

As for safeness, I've never been in an area in Swords where I felt unsafe, but I'm sure they exist. Maybe when you have some more specific areas in mind you could update the thread for more specific info.

selassie

The only places I'd avoid buying are Knocksedan and Holywell because they're so out of the way. Especially Knocksedan.

DarraghR

Thornleigh and Applewood would be the areas we are currently looking in at the moment so that is North West area. I drive and my fiance will have to get a bus to work which is about a 5 minute walk. Will reconsider Knocksedan and Holywell if anything comes up.

We usually google the areas and then add words like crime and Garda to see if there has been any hassle. Thing is you get trouble in all areas so can be hard to judge at times.

JimmyVik

DarraghR wrote: »

Thornleigh and Applewood would be the areas we are currently looking in at the moment so that is North West area. I drive and my fiance will have to get a bus to work which is about a 5 minute walk. Will reconsider Knocksedan and Holywell if anything comes up.

We usually google the areas and then add words like crime and Garda to see if there has been any hassle. Thing is you get trouble in all areas so can be hard to judge at times.

Those areas are fine.
Knocksedan is nice too but as everyone says, its very out of the way. So much so some wouldnt even consider is Swords.

There was a gangland hit in Applewood a couple of years ago, but that was just because that is where the gym the guy used was located so they waited out side it, rather than the area being bad. I would hazard that you will never see the like again.

PCros

For the sheer size and poplution of Swords it is very safe compared to other areas with half the population.

Another area of Swords is Kinsealy/Drynam which has the 43 bus (fastest DB bus into town) and also the option of driving to Portmarnock train station if you wanted that option to commute into town - the drive is approx 8-10 mins with a train journey time of 25 mins. It also has easy access to the M1 too.

What type of house are you interested in and we may be able to help more?

thegreatescape

DarraghR wrote: »

Thornleigh and Applewood would be the areas we are currently looking in at the moment so that is North West area. I drive and my fiance will have to get a bus to work which is about a 5 minute walk. Will reconsider Knocksedan and Holywell if anything comes up.

We usually google the areas and then add words like crime and Garda to see if there has been any hassle. Thing is you get trouble in all areas so can be hard to judge at times.

I lived near Applewood a few years ago. The area would be quite safe, good facilities and close to the pavillion's and decent bus routes into town. The only negatives I had was how long it took to get into town via public transport, but this would be true for all of Swords I suppose.

tscul32

Definitely check out Kinsealy/Feltrim end. Quicker commute from there as the buses don't need to get through Swords first. Also closer to Malahide too.

Oymyakon

Swords is very safe - I'd say it's very much a family place. Swords express can get you into town in 30 mins depending on what end of Swords you're in. As a previous poster mentioned the likes of Holywell are the last stops before the port tunnel so would be even quicker.

Interested Observer

Swords is certainly no more dangerous than Marino is.

tscul32

I know at least 3 people who grew up in marino happily living in swords.

DarraghR

JimmyVik wrote: »

Those areas are fine.
Knocksedan is nice too but as everyone says, its very out of the way. So much so some wouldnt even consider is Swords.

There was a gangland hit in Applewood a couple of years ago, but that was just because that is where the gym the guy used was located so they waited out side it, rather than the area being bad. I would hazard that you will never see the like again.

I read about this after doing some research. It did make me question moving into the area but soon got over it as this could happen anywhere. Currently living close to Griffith College and a guy was shot at right outside our front window which we would not expect around here.

Greentree_uk

swords is a great town, I moved here last year and love it. Everything on your doorstep, beaches minutes away, lots of parks, great selection of shops, Pavillions, Airside, cinema, tennis courts etc. I think it was voted best town in 2017 and I believe it. If you need to go to town there's the swords express and Metro when it comes. Easy access to M1/M50. haven't seen any downsides at all. I'd want to be near the village as some estates are a good bit away.

Alkers

Oymyakon wrote: »

Swords is very safe - I'd say it's very much a family place. Swords express can get you into town in 30 mins depending on what end of Swords you're in. As a previous poster mentioned the likes of Holywell are the last stops before the port tunnel so would be even quicker.

Just be weary that pre-covid the swords express is typically full to capacity by the time it gets to these stops in the morning,
so you can easily end up waiting with several full busses passing without even stopping, and there can be bit queues at these stops also.

Suckit

PCros wrote: »

For the sheer size and poplution of Swords it is very safe compared to other areas with half the population.

Another area of Swords is Kinsealy/Drynam which has the 43 bus (fastest DB bus into town) and also the option of driving to Portmarnock train station if you wanted that option to commute into town - the drive is approx 8-10 mins with a train journey time of 25 mins. It also has easy access to the M1 too.

What type of house are you interested in and we may be able to help more?

I'm not being pedantic. and apologies, but, Kinsealy is another town, it isn't an area of Swords. And Drynam is an estate in Kinsealy.
It is a decent area though.
Milesian is another area very nice but might be a bit more than parts of Applewood or Thornleigh.
Waterside might be worth looking at too as there is quite a large price range covered.

PCros

Suckit wrote: »

I'm not being pedantic. and apologies, but, Kinsealy is another town, it isn't an area of Swords. And Drynam is an estate in Kinsealy.
It is a decent area though.
Milesian is another area very nice but might be a bit more than parts of Applewood or Thornleigh.
Waterside might be worth looking at too as there is quite a large price range covered.

It does cause confusion but Kinsealy from Mountgorry Way all the way down to Drynam is actually a part of Swords. Kinsealy on its own is further out on the Malahide Road where St Olave's is. It all comes from the land name "Kinsaley" which incorporates miles and miles of land around that area so it's essentially all Kinsealy except a part of it is incorporated under Swords.

Don't believe me put it into Eircode and see for yourself.

Also Waterside is Malahide ;)

catrionanic

PCros wrote: »

It does cause confusion but Kinsealy from Mountgorry Way all the way down to Drynam is actually a part of Swords. Kinsealy on its own is further out on the Malahide Road where St Olave's is. It all comes from the land name "Kinsaley" which incorporates miles and miles of land around that area so it's essentially all Kinsealy except a part of it is incorporated under Swords.

Don't believe me put it into Eircode and see for yourself.

Also Waterside is Malahide ;)

I never get why some people say Waterside is in Malahide. It is so much closer to Swords.

selassie

catrionanic wrote: »

I never get why some people say Waterside is in Malahide. It is so much closer to Swords.

They say it to increase their property value by association.

PCros

catrionanic wrote: »

I never get why some people say Waterside is in Malahide. It is so much closer to Swords.

Madness really as parts of the area I am mentioning with regards to Drynam etc. is further from Swords than Waterside.

catrionanic

PCros wrote: »

Madness really as parts of the area I am mentioning with regards to Drynam etc. is further from Swords than Waterside.

Also fairly sure it is outside the "welcome to malahide" sign by a fair distance. That sign is outside Whitegables housing estate.

It isnt in the catchment area for Malahide schools either. The boundary for St Sylvesters is at Whitegables too.

Suckit

PCros wrote: »

It does cause confusion but Kinsealy from Mountgorry Way all the way down to Drynam is actually a part of Swords. Kinsealy on its own is further out on the Malahide Road where St Olave's is. It all comes from the land name "Kinsaley" which incorporates miles and miles of land around that area so it's essentially all Kinsealy except a part of it is incorporated under Swords.

Don't believe me put it into Eircode and see for yourself.

Also Waterside is Malahide ;)

They may have done a deal for the postal code, but it is 100% Swords .
Swords representatives even complained at the time (as did some from Malahide), as it was used as an excuse to up the prices of them. I think it is now back as Swords again on many maps and in estate agents.
They've sold most of them now anyway so probably not bothered saying it anymore.

Anyway. Way OT.
Kinsaley Church is now in Malahide :rolleyes:

tscul32

Interestingly though the Malahide/Portmarnock school catchment area ends at Mountgorry way, so Waterside counts for schools that use that catchment (such as the educate togethers) rather than parishes.
Milesian is a lovely spot. 3 bed for sale at the moment for €385k but needs a good going over.

Suckit

tscul32 wrote: »

Interestingly though the Malahide/Portmarnock school catchment area ends at Mountgorry way, so Waterside counts for schools that use that catchment (such as the educate togethers) rather than parishes.
Milesian is a lovely spot. 3 bed for sale at the moment for €385k but needs a good going over.

I'm only a passer by. Worked in Swords for years, and gained a lot of knowledge from an older co-worker who was in the Swords historical society and also had a lot of personal views (IIRC grew up in Malahide). But it is interesting and funny the lengths that they sometimes go to.
The catchment area for the schools I am pretty sure is due to overcrowding. For example, there is now talk (in Malahide) of building a platform out on to the estuary for kids to walk out on to, to go to school from seabury to the school on the green area (I think pope john school). Which in my opinion is utter madness. They have an area put aside in that estate for a school already that would alleviate the traffic from there during school hours, but for some reason they haven't built it.
And the new estates on Kinsaley lane (that is how Kinsaley church became rezoned in Malahide) will now have a new school - an educate together, that is apparently already taking bookings and I don't believe a brick has been laid so not sure how true that is.

But sorry to go so far OT. I was looking at moving to around that area and while still a possibility I am told it is very very hard to get kids into any of the schools and the catchment area is constantly being widened instead of building another school for every x hundred houses.

- FYI - If the older ex coworker heard you saying Kinsealy was part of Swords, your guts would be garters

catrionanic

Suckit wrote: »

I'm only a passer by. Worked in Swords for years, and gained a lot of knowledge from an older co-worker who was in the Swords historical society and also had a lot of personal views (IIRC grew up in Malahide). But it is interesting and funny the lengths that they sometimes go to.
The catchment area for the schools I am pretty sure is due to overcrowding. For example, there is now talk (in Malahide) of building a platform out on to the estuary for kids to walk out on to, to go to school from seabury to the school on the green area (I think pope john school). Which in my opinion is utter madness. They have an area put aside in that estate for a school already that would alleviate the traffic from there during school hours, but for some reason they haven't built it.
And the new estates on Kinsaley lane (that is how Kinsaley church became rezoned in Malahide) will now have a new school - an educate together, that is apparently already taking bookings and I don't believe a brick has been laid so not sure how true that is.

But sorry to go so far OT. I was looking at moving to around that area and while still a possibility I am told it is very very hard to get kids into any of the schools and the catchment area is constantly being widened instead of building another school for every x hundred houses.

- FYI - If the older ex coworker heard you saying Kinsealy was part of Swords, your guts would be garters

The ET school on the Malahide Road is moving to beside Ashwood Hall on the back road. It isnt a new school, it is just moving location.

Caranica

Also new schools aren't built when they're announced. Unless it's a replacement. New schools start with junior infants only in the first year and then increases year by year. They don't need a full school building for years so it's department policy to use temporary locations for the first few years.

tscul32

Malahide schools are busy alright but Swords is ok. The one in River Valley is usually oversubscribed but St Cronans has had places the past couple of years. Also 2 new primary schools in Swords opened in the last couple of years, plus new community college and new educate together secondary school in malahide/portmarnock catchment but is almost in swords, on the border.

JimmyVik

catrionanic wrote: »

Also fairly sure it is outside the "welcome to malahide" sign by a fair distance. That sign is outside Whitegables housing estate.

It isnt in the catchment area for Malahide schools either. The boundary for St Sylvesters is at Whitegables too.

Someone moved that sign closer to Swords a good years ago.
Think it was the builders, to make their new estate look like it was in Malahide.

It made the local papers before it was put back.

Lux23

I grew up in Ashley, which is on what we called the Malahide Road but very much in Swords, so I was surprised when a friend bought a house a couple of metres from the entrance to my house and called it Malahide! I don't think it is even Mountgorry.

Richmond Ultra

DarraghR wrote: »

Thornleigh and Applewood would be the areas we are currently looking in at the moment so that is North West area. I drive and my fiance will have to get a bus to work which is about a 5 minute walk. Will reconsider Knocksedan and Holywell if anything comes up.

We usually google the areas and then add words like crime and Garda to see if there has been any hassle. Thing is you get trouble in all areas so can be hard to judge at times.

Ring the Garda station and ask to speak to a community Garda, they'd give you a heads up on an area.

tscul32

Lux23 wrote: »

I grew up in Ashley, which is on what we called the Malahide Road but very much in Swords, so I was surprised when a friend bought a house a couple of metres from the entrance to my house and called it Malahide! I don't think it is even Mountgorry.

There are a LOT of homes between Ashley and Malahide, all of which are 100% in Swords. Prices begin to drop as soon as you cross the M1. Some people just like to think they sound important.

Claw Hammer

The title to this thread is mislead Marino is on the Northside of Dublin, not in South Dublin..